Sitting in a classroom with the boring white walls closing in doesn’t help to prevent the inevitable act of falling asleep.

Maybe it would help if the walls were a little more exciting. Language arts teachers, Eva Lange and Shelley Krause, both have walls decorated with paintings by students.  Lange’s class has a more thematic scheme than Krause’s random walls.  Lange has an evil wall with fire, and a wall for all the multicultural books her classes read.

Krause’s room didn’t start off random. She noticed the plain white walls and invited an art class to paint a mural on the back wall. After that it was an open invitation for other students to paint on her front walls and leave their mark. Krause’s said her favorite painting in her room is a picture of the monster from Frankenstein because it is so well done, and it’s one of her favorite books.

Krause said she believes that her room is more inviting because of the painted walls and students feel more comfortable. On the other hand, Lange has one of her favorite quotes painted in her room, “What will you do with this one wild and precious life?”

About how she felt about the colorful classrooms, senior Diona Lumia said, “It’s like the head of someone super creative exploded and that is the interior of Ms. Krause room. I always see something new and I love the literary symbolism.”

Another senior, Keith Wang said, “Although there are an abundant amount of paintings on the wall, they all support her teachings throughout the year. For example, there is a painting of a kite with feet and it may seem silly but it sends out a different message to the kids who have read The Kite Runner.”

Both teachers have left the fate of their walls up to students and haven’t painted anything in their own classrooms. Krause emphasizes, “I haven’t put a drop of paint on this wall.”

Ms. Krause’s Classroom

Ms. Lange’s Classroom

Mr. Kidd’s Classroom